Ever since the 1980s,
George Lynch
has been considered one of heavy metal's top shredder guitarists. But unlike many other flashy six-stringers from the era,
Lynch
has often put the importance of songwriting over merely just shredding the night away -- all the way back to his
Dokken
days -- and he continues to focus on the "the song" over "the solo" on the 2010 release from
the Lynch Mob
,
Smoke and Mirrors
. The big story here for longtime
admirers is that
is the first
Lynch Mob
release to feature singer
Oni Logan
since their most successful outing, 1990's debut,
Wicked Sensation
. And as expected, quite a few of the tunes are certainly of the headbanging variety -- tops being such noggin-pummelers as
"Time Keepers."
But
and company avoid the one-dimensional trap by breaking things up with bluesy rockers (
"Smoke & Mirrors,"
"My Kind of Healer"
), a tune that starts off like an
Alice in Chains-esque
grinder (the album-opening
"21st Century Man"
), and even a few tunes that would have sounded oh-so-sweet blasting from a Camaro in a local heavy metal parking lot circa 1986 (
"The Fascist,"
"We Will Remain"
). And while many of
's fans will agree that
Don Dokken
is his best-suited vocalist,
Logan
certainly makes a case for himself here, with a strong vocal performance throughout, being able to handle whatever
throws at him. If you're looking for an album chock-full of
's six-string technique, you'll have to look elsewhere (namely, his solo releases). But for fans of
's work with
and
's early material,
is a welcome addition to the guitarist's ever-growing discography. ~ Greg Prato